5 comments:

Hi , I'm enjoying the videos.Watch out for the mid-boom preventer. We broke a gooseneck with that , and I've met a few boats with broken booms (a drag) from preventers not led to the outer end of the boom.Hard to imagine. Might keep the boom quieter too , especially if the topping lift is tight. And so on.Steve

end boom preventer is the way to go, makes the load 100% compression, just like on spin poles.

to make it easy to rig, make up a line 2X the length of the boom with a spliced eye in each end, and ring hitch it to an eye at the end of the boom (move one of the hanging eyes to the end and drill and tap to fix it). use shock cord to hold the eyes forward near the gooseneck when not in use, and when needed snap the preventer to the spliced eye from that side of the boom.

that way you don't need to get to the end of the boom (or haul the boom in) to attach it.

With an end boom preventer, a topping lift and an end boom mainsheet (yours looks close enough) you can 'fix' the end of the boom relative to the boat in compression on the gooseneck, so only the sail pops.

if it is really rolly and you think you might dip the boom, make sure the vang is free and loose and add a light line link (like a fuse) to the preventer. then if it dips, the 'fuse' lets go and the boom will freely move up with only the topping lift and mainsheet in play.

Hi Rob, We are still considering the system you mentioned. It had been on the plate for solutions earlier for the reasons you mentioned. The thing we don't love about it is that you can't jibe with the preventer (using the preventer to slow the boom) and you have to go forward to change the preventer on the jibe. The way we have it we can jibe from the cockpit and the lines run freely across our deck (most of the time).

Steve - Thanks. We can't figure out how we would be wearing our gooseneck more with a mid-boom preventer unless you mean that you can get the preventer tighter (and thus less wiggle) with an end boom preventer?

Livia, our gooseneck broke when the main tried to jibe (not from wear) , and the leverage of the sail aft of the attachment point of the preventer on the boom was enough to break the gooseneck. There is an Island Packet 37 tied next to me here that broke their boom right where the preventer was attached at mid point, with an accidental jibe.

We have both preventer lines led back to the cockpit. They come off the end of the boom and go forward to blocks on the toerail not far from the bow , then back to the unused sheet winch. They are permanently attached to the boom, but not full length , just long enough to be able to set up when the boom is way out (similar to the way Rob describes , above). Two more long lines to fiddle with , but we can jibe everything accidentally , jib and main while wing and wing , and all that happens is that we are suddenly 'hove-to' , caught aback (things suddenly get very quiet ).We can ease the main across as well , if needed.